caffeinekid
Well-known member
Very cool story. This guy is an all-around geek.
http://www.wired.com/2015/02/high-end-dumpster-diving-matt-malone/
http://www.wired.com/2015/02/high-end-dumpster-diving-matt-malone/
Pro dumpster diver making bank
- Thread starter caffeinekid
- Start date
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The coolest part of that story is him keeping genuinely useful stuff from hitting landfills.
I didn't want to mention this until I had a success, but I've been casually watching the dumpster at the Best Buy next door to my office for a while. Not the compacting one - nothing to see there - it's backed up against the store's loading dock, but they have a general dumpster where it appears the Geek Squad guys unload old TVs they've brought back from new installations. I've been watching this on-and-off, but never really saw anything worthwhile - mostly folks still giving up old CRTs and DLPs while I've been watching for LCDs and Plasmas.
Anyway, now I've been paying better attention, it just so happens that LCDs and Plasmas ARE starting to show up, and I've been able to get over there and recover 4 in the last month or so.
One was a commercial Toshiba plasma with washed out contrast that was also a bit "old school" on the connectivity front (no HDMI). I took that one right back over and dumped it again (however, somebody thought it had more value than I did - it was gone again by the next morning). The other three - one was a 40" Sony and the other two were both Samsung, in 46" and 52" sizes - it turned out they (all with Samsung LCD panels) had tab-bond separation (Google it) between the driver boards and the panel. Not "fixable", per-se, without replacing the panel entirely (far too expensive!). In addition, the 46" Samsung had a bad PSU (which obviously stopped me from seeing that it also had a tab-bond problem until it was fixed). The Sony and the 46" Samsung were, unfortunately, too far gone, but I was able to shim the defective tabs in the 52" and it now works great!
Unfortunately, since the Geek Squad guys consider these trash they don't take a great deal of care when it comes to getting them in and out of their trucks. They don't throw them (or at least I've not seen that yet), but they do tend to drag them around on the concrete rather than pick them up, which obviously isn't that great for the plastic bezels. The 46" Samsung was in the best shape, since the Geek Squad guy in that instance actually put it into the box from the new TV. The 52" Samsung was probably in the worst shape due to it's heft and size, but I was able to make it look reasonable with my car polisher and a bit of rubbing compound. We're going to put it in my wife's sewing room instead of the 13" CRT she has in there right now. It's far too big for a (bed)room that size, but what the heck!
That sort of brings me around to what I plan on doing with these as I find and "fix" them. The tab-bond sets I can't in good conscience sell - the shimming can only be considered a temporary fix (though some have reported success that has lasted a couple of years!). Since I can't guarantee the longevity to a potential buyer, I'll simply offer them to family and friends in need with the warning that it may not last forever. The sets that are too far gone...I've stripped them of everything with resale value and should be able to realize a couple of hundred bucks from each, selling the parts on eBay.
But I'm not doing this for the money. It's cool to fix something that's broke and thought of as having little value by the person discarding it; and it's cool to keep stuff out of landfills. Anything else is a bonus. And, yes, any I find that are in reasonable condition and do only need a circuit board repair, I'll consider selling cheap on Craigslist.
Here are before and after pics of the Samsung I "fixed" and we'll keep (at least until something better/nicer comes along):
Anyway, now I've been paying better attention, it just so happens that LCDs and Plasmas ARE starting to show up, and I've been able to get over there and recover 4 in the last month or so.
One was a commercial Toshiba plasma with washed out contrast that was also a bit "old school" on the connectivity front (no HDMI). I took that one right back over and dumped it again (however, somebody thought it had more value than I did - it was gone again by the next morning). The other three - one was a 40" Sony and the other two were both Samsung, in 46" and 52" sizes - it turned out they (all with Samsung LCD panels) had tab-bond separation (Google it) between the driver boards and the panel. Not "fixable", per-se, without replacing the panel entirely (far too expensive!). In addition, the 46" Samsung had a bad PSU (which obviously stopped me from seeing that it also had a tab-bond problem until it was fixed). The Sony and the 46" Samsung were, unfortunately, too far gone, but I was able to shim the defective tabs in the 52" and it now works great!
Unfortunately, since the Geek Squad guys consider these trash they don't take a great deal of care when it comes to getting them in and out of their trucks. They don't throw them (or at least I've not seen that yet), but they do tend to drag them around on the concrete rather than pick them up, which obviously isn't that great for the plastic bezels. The 46" Samsung was in the best shape, since the Geek Squad guy in that instance actually put it into the box from the new TV. The 52" Samsung was probably in the worst shape due to it's heft and size, but I was able to make it look reasonable with my car polisher and a bit of rubbing compound. We're going to put it in my wife's sewing room instead of the 13" CRT she has in there right now. It's far too big for a (bed)room that size, but what the heck!
That sort of brings me around to what I plan on doing with these as I find and "fix" them. The tab-bond sets I can't in good conscience sell - the shimming can only be considered a temporary fix (though some have reported success that has lasted a couple of years!). Since I can't guarantee the longevity to a potential buyer, I'll simply offer them to family and friends in need with the warning that it may not last forever. The sets that are too far gone...I've stripped them of everything with resale value and should be able to realize a couple of hundred bucks from each, selling the parts on eBay.
But I'm not doing this for the money. It's cool to fix something that's broke and thought of as having little value by the person discarding it; and it's cool to keep stuff out of landfills. Anything else is a bonus. And, yes, any I find that are in reasonable condition and do only need a circuit board repair, I'll consider selling cheap on Craigslist.
Here are before and after pics of the Samsung I "fixed" and we'll keep (at least until something better/nicer comes along):
ishiyakazuo
Well-known member
Nice! I went diving in my company's e-trash pile the other day. Got 10 Ethernet switches, and fixed half a dozen monitors that were thrown away in there. I gave those back to the company as refurbs to cycle back in when another display breaks. They were quite happy to let me keep whatever I wanted, though.
ishiyakazuo said:
Ha! That's cool. I've got a bunch of bad Dell LCD displays in my e-trash that I want to take a look at, when I have enough free time on work's dime. I think I can cobble two bad ones together to make a good one in many instances. More even, if it's just bad caps on the PSU. Will probably have to destroy at least one in figuring out how to get them apart though, unless I can find a service manual.
Which also reminds me that we let folks bring their home stuff for disposal too, and someone contributed a fully functional DVD/VCR combo. With the remote even! Of course I took that. I don't need another VCR or DVD player myself, but I do know that our Church is severely lacking on the Audio Visual front. Of course then I'll have to find them a LCD TV too. :lol:
ishiyakazuo
Well-known member
Yeah, all except for one here was bad caps (sometimes even just one bad cap, but I'd replace a handful of them if I was replacing them anyway).
It's amazing that a $1 part can repair a $200 (or more) display most of the time.
(The one that wasn't a bad cap was a broken LCD panel... so that stayed put in the pile.)
It's amazing that a $1 part can repair a $200 (or more) display most of the time.
(The one that wasn't a bad cap was a broken LCD panel... so that stayed put in the pile.)
ishiyakazuo said:
That whole bad caps scene sucked, and I'm glad we're getting beyond it (except for some of the legacy equipment). Most of the time with the Dell MBs I'd have come through I just junked the MB, since good replacements had gotten to be like $25 shipped on eBay. They'd usually have a dozen or so swollen/burst caps and, as you say, they're like a buck each. Then there's my labor, so it didn't make sense to spend the time. However, I did occasionally get the odd one that has just one or two bad caps, and I'd change those out.
However, the bad tab-bonds scene sucks even more! A whole TV essentially junk because of a (practically) unfixable manufacturing failure on the most expensive part. Yikes! I personally think Samsung should be forced to replace each and every one of those bad panels, irrespective of the TV's age when the tabs fail.
davewill
Well-known member
Jeez, haven't these companies ever heard of CHARITY? Goodwill or a dozen other local charities would love to get their hands on this stuff. They know how to wring some value out of it. That's where all of my old, but usable stuff goes. I wouldn't dream of throwing useable items out.
davewill said:
I don't know Dave, the Goodwill in Santa Ana was the first to have a dedicated computer store (maybe it was the only one ever, since it was an experiment and all), and they got to be pretty darn picky about what they would take.
davewill
Well-known member
Yeah, I should have clarified. Obsolete electronics usually has to go to the electronic recyclers, but all that other stuff: furniture, printer consumables, clothing, etc... can all go to charity. Also, the stuff Best Buy and rest are throwing out isn't obsolete, they're just getting rid of last year's model or blemished returns, often in the box. I guarantee they'd have no problem giving those away.mwalsh said:
davewill said:
Speaking of electronics recyclers...I love those places, especially the ones with a resale store. Quite often they don't validate stuff beyond "it turns on", so it can be a bit of a gamble, but you can also occasionally snag a real bargain if you know your stuff.
